


I Do Adore

by potatosocks



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23015182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potatosocks/pseuds/potatosocks
Summary: Puppy love is hard to ignore, when every little thing you do I do adore.
Relationships: America/Japan (Hetalia)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 67





	I Do Adore

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! thanks for giving this fic a chance! I was very inspired by Mindy Gledhill's song I Do Adore to write this fic! I advise listening to it while reading this hehe!! constructive criticism is greatly appreciated as always!

Kiku turned his collar up, bracing against the sharp winds. Kiku always liked winter, but it was chilly winter mornings that he loved best. This was the kind of weather to snuggle up with someone under a duvet, the tatami floor still slightly cold under the thick mattress.

But he wasn’t snuggled up under warm blankets today. He had snuck out, as quietly as possible, untangling Alfred’s long gangly limbs from around his body. Thank god the man slept like a log.

No, today would be special.

Kiku breathed in the crisp air, savouring it. In the distance, he could see a throng of black business suits making their way to the nearby train station. All moving in the same direction, in the same speed. Almost… uniform. Kiku used to wear suits like that to work, almost to blend in with the rest.

But now… he glanced down at his maroon overcoat. It had been an anniversary gift from Al, who had told him, with his trademark grin and twinkle in his eye, that he looked like everyone else. Al obviously didn’t think he should have.

Kiku turned off the main road, into a winding alleyway lined with shophouses. It was quieter here, the populace older. He passed by several ramen shops, some businessmen still finishing up their morning meal.

He slipped out his earbuds out of pocket, absentmindedly connecting them to his phone. Without so much as a glance, he hit play.

_“Everything you do it sends me higher than the moon_

_with every twinkle in your eye you strike a match that lights my heart on fire”_

Blushing, Kiku couldn’t stop his grin from spreading. Al had been drunkenly singing this to him last night, complete with his shitty ukulele playing. That hadn’t curbed his enthusiasm though. (Kiku had noted that the neighbours had left several strongly-worded notes about Al’s singing before.)

He must have looked like a madman, grinning uncontrollably as he walked up a steep slope. But that was a natural reaction to Al. Kiku never knew he could laugh so much, smile so much, when he was around Alfred.

Even Yao and Leon had told him that they had never seen him so happy with anyone else. Al just made being happy easier.

He remembered how uptight he was, how scared he was, during the first few dates. He had sat there in stony silence as Al joked and laughed as though he didn’t have a care in the world. Al had confessed to him months later that one of the proudest moments in his life was when he made Kiku laugh for the first time. (It had taken a whopping 7 dates, and Kiku had no idea what made Al stay so long.)

_“It brings me to my knees when you say_

_Hello, how are you, my darling, today?”_

The first time Al had called him “baby”, it sounded tentative, like he was trying it on. Kiku never admitted he liked the sound of it, liked how it felt to be called Al’s. But that night, as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling, he replayed the moment over and over again. Memorising the way Al called his name, called him baby.

No matter how many times he had heard Al call his name or any one of his stupid variations, he never got quite used to it. Maybe it was the way Al said it, the way it rolled off his tongue.

Ki-ku. To Kiku, it sounded like a declaration of love, of admiration. “Kiiii-ku…”, Al would say as they cuddled in bed, his fingers in black hair. “Keeks!” whenever he was excited (and that was pretty much all the time). Even the way Al moaned his name in bed was something special, the heavy pants between each syllable in his name only made Kiku desire him more.

No one ever said his name the same way Alfred could. Not Arthur, not Heracles.

_“We’re as different as can be_

_I’ve noticed that you’re remarkably relaxed and I’m overly uptight_

_We balance out each other nicely”_

Kiku never believed in over-said love cliches. Love at first sight? Opposites attract? Before Al, he would have laughed at those sayings. It was bullshit.

He wasn’t so sure after 3 years with Alfred.

The first time they had met, no one could have predicted their unlikely friendship, and in turn their blossoming romance.

Al was loud, always cracking jokes, always in everyone’s business. He never seemed to get tired of anyone or anything. The second he walked into the room, even the most boring meeting room, he could have them smiling and laughing in no time.

Kiku, on the other hand, was deathly serious. Quiet, unassuming. That was how he wanted to be seen. Sombre, humourless, grim. Kiku was sure those words had been used to describe him more than once.

Kiku hated Al the minute he walked into the meeting room door. Being forced to babysit this literal puppy of a human being absolutely drained Kiku, especially when said puppy would not shut up for a single second.

But Kiku had learned to appreciate Al’s enthusiasm about life. He admired how Al had seen the worse in the world, yet had come out of it smiling.

And bit by bit, brick by brick, Kiku’s walls started coming down.

_“When every little thing you do_

_I do… adore”_

Kiku almost past the entrance to the small, dingy shop. It was obscured in a small lane, off to the side of the road, surrounded by potted plants.

Al had dragged him in one winter night, when the winds were howling and the snow too thick to see through.

The elderly couple running the store were nice enough to offer them shelter from the oncoming blizzard, but Al was more concerned and interested in what they were selling.

The look on Al’s face as he pressed his glasses up against the clear cabinet - he never looked so happy, so enthralled. He had dragged Kiku over, trying almost every single one. But one particular one caught his eye.

Al must have had forgotten the whole incident, but Kiku could never get the look of Al’s face, so full of wonder and excitement, out of his mind.

The door opened with a light jingle. The store was as musty and dusty as that cold winter night. Everything looked the same, down to the clothes the elderly couple were wearing as they snapped to attention at the sight of a customer.

Kiku cleared his throat, pulling out his earbuds.

“I’m here to buy a ring.”


End file.
